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2:18pm May 2, 2013

➸ Trying to find the right words: youneedacat: Trying to find the right words: about “stupid” josiahd: I...

youneedacat:

Trying to find the right words: about “stupid”

josiahd:

I don’t think “stupid” is ableist. I think there’s an underlying concept which is a real thing.

It’s a concept that gets conflated with something else, because of the contempt people have for disabled cognition.

It’s not the same thing, though.

Yeah idiot originally meant something like ordinary citizen, then throughout centuries became an insult (including a meaning similar to stupid), and then later a medical term, and then even more of an insult, and… Etc. it wasn’t this pristine word that was an acceptable medical term that had no bad meaning before it was medically applied to people with certain kinds of physical and cognitive impairments.

Notes:
  1. katjehasa reblogged this from grammarmancer
  2. escapingtoxicjustice reblogged this from madeofpatterns
  3. tinierpurplefishes reblogged this from ladyshinga
  4. dada-disco reblogged this from ladyshinga
  5. jmindigo reblogged this from ladyshinga
  6. waywren reblogged this from ladyshinga
  7. plantgender reblogged this from thelamedame
  8. imaginationuncensored reblogged this from ladyshinga
  9. littlealiengirl reblogged this from bittersnurr and added:
    #I am bad at words so people will probably get mad at me for this You know that bit I think is the most frustrating part...
  10. gentlenight reblogged this from getinthehandbasket
  11. many-worlds reblogged this from madeofpatterns and added:
    I feel thankful for this, because “stupid” is the only word I know for a concept that I know has to do with disability...
  12. getinthehandbasket reblogged this from ladyshinga
  13. grammarmancer reblogged this from bittersnurr and added:
    Ignorant gets points for being the most misused word practically ever, too. But I think if we as people have any values,...
  14. abotl reblogged this from ladyshinga and added:
    Reblogged especially for the bolded commentary.
  15. jaded-empath reblogged this from ladyshinga
  16. bittersnurr reblogged this from thelamedame and added:
    Yeah this has been bothering me too. I REALLY don’t like the implication that every word that is an insult to...
  17. dracota reblogged this from ladyshinga
  18. clatterbane reblogged this from madeofpatterns and added:
    Because that’s another way that sometimes it’s hard to wrap any words around things. A bit tangential to the point about...
  19. hotcocoabuns reblogged this from ladyshinga
  20. space-gecko-sex reblogged this from madeofpatterns
  21. creatorofthechimerical reblogged this from ladyshinga
  22. withasmoothroundstone reblogged this from imaginaryprisons and added:
    Yeah that. Forgot the exact meaning. But meant something other than stupid, then drifted in the direction of stupid...
  23. grievousgrimalkin reblogged this from ladyshinga and added:
    Unpopular opinion - I feel the same way about “derp.” Everybody’s always up in arms that it’s ableist and offensive...
  24. parrott-head reblogged this from ladyshinga